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Hello From Aya!
Hi everyone! This is Aya writing the kaDON newsletter for the very first time! I’m not usually the one to go out in public, but we decided it’s about time :D
This summer, kaDON will celebrate its 5th anniversary and I can’t help but look back and reminisce on how far we’ve come. I remember being at a crossroad in my life about 6 years ago, wanting to switch to a career that made me happy. I started playing taiko in 1998 with St. Louis Osuwa Taiko and developed a great network of taiko connections. I was saddened when I realized that all these amazing connections I made through taiko over the years might go to waste if I didn’t do something constructive with it. I decided to give a call to my good friend Yoshi, president of Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten. I asked him if he was thinking of expanding the business overseas, and if so, I wanted to be part of it. Yoshi immediately mentioned the countless conversations he’s had with Shoji over the years on how they could contribute to the direction of the art form and the taiko community. From there, the conversation quickly turned into a brainstorming session. A few months later, Yoshi, Shoji, and I had our first meeting together in Maui, and then in Los Angeles shortly after. The following year, we launched kaDON at the World Taiko Gathering in Los Angeles, and the rest is history! Am I happy with my career choice? You bet I am ;)
We all have our own specialized roles within kaDON to best utilize our abilities. Mine is mostly behind the scenes, dealing with the day-to-day operations, as well as managing our merchandise. We operate virtually, so while we don’t have a physical storefront, we have an online store, which many of you know about (thank you!). We also travel to taiko events and conferences around the world to support these gatherings. I really enjoy getting out of the office and going to these events because I get to put a face to the e-mail addresses and meet those who’ve supported us over the years. So many of these encounters have turned into life-long friendships and I owe this all to taiko and its magical power to connect people. If you need any special items not currently available on our website, e-mail us at info@kadon.com because I can help get them from Japan. We have access to the entire Miyamoto catalog ranging from taiko to custom bachi to costumes to Mikoshi!
Our team is splitting into two this weekend to be at the European Taiko Conference in Hamburg, Germany and at the East Coast Taiko Conference in Ithaca, New York. We hope to meet as many of you as we can and in person, so please make sure to stop by our booth and say hello. Thank you to everyone who placed pre-orders to be picked up at these two events! I’m looking forward to putting more faces and e-mail addresses together and making a connection with all of you :)
Happy Wednesday!
Aya
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